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SDG4 Contributor highlight - Johannes Lindner

Johannes Lindner was awarded the "1MillionStartups Global Educator 2019" Award for his work in the IFTE and educating young entrepreneurs. Meet Mr. Lindner through the Initiative for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

01.02.2020.

Mr. Johannes Lindner, 1MillionStartups Global Educator 2019 is the founder and head of the Initiative for Teaching Entrepreneurship. He explained all about the Initiative for us:

IFTE is an Austrian NGO designing holistic entrepreneurship education programs from primary schools to upper secondary level, that support children and young people developing their full potential and shaping the future.

What is IFTE's view on young people shaping the future?

"We believe that society needs entrepreneurial people coming up with creative solutions for current challenges. This must be learned by each generation anew. Thus we need an education system that empowers children to live up to their full potential and to find their individual path. Therefore we develop holistic entrepreneurship education programs from primary to upper secondary level, that encourage young people to participate proactively in society and to contribute as changemakers to our common future."

Why is entrepreneurship important to the IFTE team?

"Entrepreneurship is the ability to turn ideas into reality. This requires creativity, innovation and a willingness to take risks as well as the ability to plan and carry out projects in order to achieve specific goals. These capabilities help all people in their daily lives, enable employees to seize opportunities and is the basis for establishing a social or commercial endeavor.

“You can never solve problems with the same way of thinking that created them.”
– Joseph Schumpeter

During their education children and young people should learn to participate proactively in society - by setting their own goals, learning to achieve them despite setbacks and challenges, working on new and creative solutions and seeing the future full of opportunities and possibilities. Because entrepreneurs are in demand in all areas of life and it will be our children and young people who are shaping the future." explained Mr. Lindner.

How do you foster entrepreneurship in education?

"An entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to lead a meaningful life can be developed in childhood. That is the reason why we are strongly committed to activities in the field of education.

“If you want to change something, don’t ask others to start, be part of it!”
– Johannes Lindner, Chairman of IFTE

The basis or our work are numerous teaching and learning arrangements, which we have developed since our foundation in 2000. Today, the You^th Start Entrepreneurial Challenges Programme offers evidence-based learning and teaching materials following a holistic approach to entrepreneurship education. At the heart of the program are larger and smaller challenges. They function as learning prompts from three key areas that play an important role in empowering our youth: entrepreneurial thinking and acting, personal development and social commitment.

Besides didactic materials, we organize more than 50 training seminars for teachers per year. Children and young people we support annually nearly 130 workshops on various aspects of entrepreneurship to start their personal entrepreneurial journey. 7 different competition-formats and 2 dedicated Youth Entrepreneurship Programmes offer children and young people a platform to showcase their ideas and potential. 20+ annual community events complement the You^th Start Entrepreneurial Challenges Programme, with the Entrepreneurship Summit Vienna being our highlight with 1.200+ participants in 3 days." concluded Mr. Lindner.

Follow their work and attend the future events:

www.ifte.at

www.youthstart.network

Try this amazing learning tool:

www.youthstart.eu

Contact:

office@ifte.at

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